1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sucker rod pullers and more particularly to a sucker rod puller having a slideably disposed sleeve for preventing the collar of a sucker rod from releasing from the puller.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sucker rod pullers have long been in use for elevating sucker rods from wells or the like. An early U.S. Pat. No. 243,859 issued to C. H. Cushing on July 5, 1881, discloses a typical sucker rod displaying swivel motion about a sucker rod puller having a slideably disposed sleeve for releasing and retaining the collar of the sucker rod therein.
The primary disadvantage with the above prior art approach is that the sleeve for retaining the collar of the sucker rod in the puller can be inadvertently slideably disposed upwardly thereby releasing the sucker rod when the sucker rod is pulled out from the well and lain on the ground by coming into contact with an abutting surface either in the well or on the ground.
Other conventional sucker rods have been connected to the puller by means of threaded connections. In these approaches before each section of the rod can be installed or removed, it is necessary to thread together or partially thread these connections. This threading operation is inherent with the problem of disengaging the bottom section of the sucker rod and, sometimes, with the result that the sucker rod falls all the way to the bottom of the well. Fishing out the sucker rod from the bottom of the well is a time consuming and expensive process.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art approaches by providing a pivotal detent or latch that automatically biases the slideable sleeve into position so that inadvertent or accidental release of the sucker rod is prevented. In the event that the sucker rod is to be removed from the sucker rod puller, the pivotal detent is manually deactivated to allow manual retraction of the sleeve to a position for releasing the collar of the sucker rod.